LOOKING FOR RISTO Tristan Hamel Master's Thesis Aalto University, School of Arts,Design and Architecture, Department of Art, Master Degree Programme in Environmental Art 2012 Abstract Along the summer 2012, Tristan Hamel went for a journey on the lakes of Eastern Finland on his self-made raft, looking for his Finnish alter ego Risto. The aim of this project is to question identification with the natural environment, and more particularly the condition of identification of a foreigner with Finnish nature. The central proposition of this Master's thesis is that a complete engagement with the environment is needed to challenge national strategies of identification. Understood both as a physical and psychological process, engagement makes it possible for one to initiate a one-to-one relationship with nature, based on a personal cultural set such as the universal myth of return to nature. The artwork at stake in this thesis builds upon the international tradition of environmental art but is more particularly influenced by the work of selected Finnish artists whose work is marked by a deep sense of involvement with the natural environment. In spite of these various influences, Looking for Risto intends to innovate mostly in terms of documentation, by taking advantage of recent developments in communication technologies. Art being considered as a process, the emphasis is put as much on the preparatory and retrospective phases of the project as on the production one. Each of them is assigned a different mode of confrontation with the audience. Contents Acknowledgements.......................................................................................................7 Note to the reader.........................................................................................................8 INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................9 WHERE FROM...................................................................................................15 1.IDENTITY, NATURE AND FINLAND................................................................................17 Some theoretical clarifications..................................................................................................17 Identity and nature: the case of Finland....................................................................................22 What is “nature”?......................................................................................................................25 “Inventing nature”.....................................................................................................................32 “Inventing Finland”...................................................................................................................37 2.COSMOPOLITANISM: FROM CONFLICTS TO RECONCILIATION.............................44 Conflicting factors of Finnish identity......................................................................................45 The cosmopolitan......................................................................................................................50 The call of the wild...................................................................................................................53 Return to nature?.......................................................................................................................60 The critical stand of Finnish artists of the 1960s and 1970s.....................................................65 3.ENGAGEMENT....................................................................................................................69 Some influential Finnish artists.................................................................................................70 Engagement...............................................................................................................................76 An adventure.............................................................................................................................80 Rafting.......................................................................................................................................83 Materials....................................................................................................................................89 DIY and self-reliance................................................................................................................95 Video Blogging and Geo-locating...........................................................................................100 HERE.................................................................................................................105 WHERE TO.......................................................................................................147 1.Art as a process....................................................................................................................150 Some shortcomings.................................................................................................................151 An evolving narrative..............................................................................................................156 2.Documenting art...................................................................................................................160 Documentation in environmental art.......................................................................................161 Documentation as part of the art practice...............................................................................165 Why to publish preparatory work?..........................................................................................169 Video Blogging......................................................................................................................171 An exhibition proposal............................................................................................................175 SOME WORDS TO CONCLUDE....................................................................183 ANNEXES........................................................................................................187 Bibliography............................................................................................................................188 Websites..................................................................................................................................192 Films........................................................................................................................................194 Illustration Index.....................................................................................................................195 Acknowledgements This Master's thesis and the artistic project it is based upon could not have come true without the help, assistance and support of many people. It would be difficult to mention them all. Among them, I would like to thank André Schumacher and Etienne Delière for their good mood and help to get the raft to lake Saimaa. I am grateful to Anastasia Gavrilova for her constant support, the many hours spent sowing and above all, her infinite patience. Scott Eliott's help, suggestions and hints were precious in the writing of the thesis. Professor Markku Hakuri communicative enthusiasm and love of forests was crucial in the original decision to engage with this project. And to finish, I would like to thank my father for passing over the taste for nature expeditions and my mother for taking dreams seriously. Note to the reader Although this book is first and foremost a Master's thesis, the reader who would be more interested in the artistic side of the project is invited to directly consult the central part of the book, Here. For those who wish to explore the text in its entirety, it is advised to have a look at the video clips which were produced during the journey in order to have a better understanding of what the project consists of. All the videos are available at the following URL: https://vimeo.com/channels/lookingforristo 9 INTRODUCTION Risto was the name some older Finns assigned me years ago as they failed to remember my real name or had difficulties to pronounce it. It gradually became part of me as nowadays many people know me under this name. In a way, it is the Finnish part of myself although it grew to become a character of its own. To go after him should be understood as a metaphor: it is to go after the Finnish identity markers I may carry inside myself. And from there a question: is it possible at all for a foreigner, whose roots are only loosely defined, to identify with Finnish natural environment? Identity and the notion of place are closely intertwined. When meeting a new person, one of the most common questions, besides asking for one’s name, is to ask where one is from. Still, is it always relevant? Although I have a French passport, although people see me chiefly as a French, I may actually feel otherwise, or to be more precise not feel only French. In the end, I have lived in France for less than half of my life. I know my country but the 10 Looking for Risto places where I feel at home may not be in France. I am familiar with France but the environments I know best are not there. In fact, there is no place dearer to me than the Finnish forest. I first encountered it at the occasion of a trip around the Nordic countries while I was still a teenager. Since that